Seeking a better country...

Day off surrounded by sick kids.  I waited till the temperature peaked, and left for an open ended run.  I felt pretty good, running the first 2 miles around 7 min. pace.  Then I walked enough to make an 8 min 3rd mile.  The following 5 miles were 6:45-7:00 pace, including some good climbs.  

I guess I was thinking about marathon training too much and got a bit carried away.  I was talking with my wife last night about the race, and going big.  I could go two ways on it; higher mileage or more speed stuff.  I watched pretty closely the results Christi got with lower volume/high intensity training, and that seems to fit my schedule better.  But I'm a wuss, and don't always want to work that hard.  She's got game, too.  I don't know if I have enough heart to show up and gut it out like that.

In any case, I've got to go beyond what I did for TOU.  I have a solid base, I'm healthy, and not burned out at this time.   

Biggest Loser progression run.  I started at 6.8 mph.  Every commercial break I added .2 mph.  Last couple miles were 7 min pace.  I've given up the battle with my incline motor.  I'm better at cutting pieces of wood and propping up the front or back end than I am at making the actual repair.  I guess when I want some hills, I'll go outside.  My son told me the gym was wall-to-wall today, and I'm lucky to have my own treadmill.  He's right, even though it is a noisy POS.  

Oh yeah.  For my birthday a few weeks ago, my mom gave me a trip to the running lab.  That's Thursday morning.  I'll be interested in what they have to say/suggest.  When I started running in 2008 the shoe store guy put me in a big clunky motion control shoe.  I'm a firm believer in the adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" so I've kept with the Saucony Omni series.  But, having run 400 miles in crocs in the last 4 months without injury, I'd say the need for such a shoe is past.  That said, I think I'd do well to find something in between.  My feet get sore from the little perforations on the crocs on runs over 8 miles, and I do think some impact absorption is a good shoe function.  But I think I can get away with a much lighter shoe without so much molded crap added to the heels and sides.   

Slow miles.  I've got running lab in the morning, so I don't want to be too tired.  50+ minutes.  As is usually the case, things are going from bad to worse on "24".

Running lab morning.  I hadn't seen that side of 6 a.m. on purpose in quite a long time.  I had a piece of toast, and got there by 6:15.  There were three stations; an agility/flexibility/core station with a physical therapist, lactate threshold with a tech and gait analysis with a tech and doc.  

The agility/flexibility/core was helpful, and highlighted tightness in my shoulders, hamstrings and deep calfs.  Everything else was good.  

The lactate threshold consisted of progression running on the treadmill.  After running at 6.5 mph for 3 minutes, she measured heartrate and lactic acid level in the blood thru a pinprick in the earlobe.  The stick took 10-20 seconds, then speed up .5 mph, and continue until the lactic acid level really starts to climb.  At 8 mph she said, "Probably a couple more."  At 8.5 mph, she said, "Probably a couple more."  At 9 mph she said, "Probably 2 or 3 more."  At 9.5 mph she said, "You know, in fit people, the climb isn't as sudden..."  At 10 mph I was getting pretty tired.  At 10.5 mph, ran for a couple minutes and told her "I don't have another 40 seconds of this.  I'm gonna puke."  Her response was to encourage me to finish.  I finished, and stayed just on the right side of the puke line.  I overheard the doc getting after her as I went to the bathroom.  "You aren't supposed to run them till they throw up!"  

Finally, the gait analysis.  They had me run barefoot for a while with front, side and rear cameras.  They let me run in my regular shoes and crocs.  This was much shorter and easier than the lactate threshold.  At least I had a good warmup.  

 Overall, I was working with them for 90 minutes.  They said it would take them a few days to compile all the results into a report, so I'm still waiting for that.  Until I take a look at that, or talk with the doctor again, I won't be sure how useful the trip was.  The only immediate feedback I got was from the PT about having a good core and some stretching advice.  

I felt sick all day after doing that speed work.  Also, I was unable to resist showing off the difficult core pushups for my wife, (hands shoulder wide at the level of your forehead) and I feel like I tore something in my abs.  It's better today, but it hurt all day yesterday.   

Same old shoes, new pair.   I've never worn them outside, but they probably have 50 tm miles on them.  I'm glad work is over for the week.  It sure has been an easy winter for snow removal thus far.  My back is glad, but my wallet isn't. 

After shoveling driveways for 4 hours in the morning, I was feeling a bit tired.  The only reason this run happened is cuz I got on the blog and read about Andy and Melody's workouts.  They are both Boston-bound, and better runners than me, so I couldn't let them gap me in training...

So the slugfest lasted just over 2 hrs.  Very uninspired pace, but it was all my bag of bones could muster. 

NFC wildcard game, Giants dominated.  I ran 2 @ 8:30, then 3 @ 7:30, 1 @ 8:00, 1 @ 6:50 then cooldown.  1 mile at goal MP felt nice.  I could definitely do a couple more, no problem.  I got a rare morning run, cuz I'm stuck with 2nd shift for the week.  At least there is one benefit.

I'm not really sure how the miles work out, but it's close.  I warmed up for a mile, then did 2 min @ 6:40 followed by 2 min @ 8:30, repeated enough times to get 8.4 miles.  I liked this workout.  It didn't kill me, but gave me some time at faster speeds.  Overall time was 64 minutes.  I still need to buy some new shoes, and if this keeps up, a gym membership or replacement treadmill.  Squeak, rattle, bang.  Anybody interested in a long run on Saturday in Davis County?  I don't want to drive to SLC and make a time consuming commitment take even longer...

Biggest Loser progression run lite.  I started at 7 mph and finished at 7.8 mph.  Overall pace 7:50.  I hope Mike gets things sorted out.  I liked the challenge, and can't believe how stupid the girls played the bet.  I don't like how they are playing up this Bob/Dolvett rivalry.  

So Boston trip planning is getting me excited.  This year we are flying into Buffalo to check out Niagara Falls, Palmyra and Cooperstown before heading into MASS.  My 16 and 14 year old are coming, maybe my 12 year old.  It's going to be a great trip... 

My car was out of gas at city hall, so before work I jogged over there with a gas can--0.5 miles.  After work, 8 slow, gruesome treadmill miles.  My pre-run fajitas, while tasty, didn't make a great contribution to this effort.  Nevertheless, I got the time in.  I suppose at least half the marathon will feel like that gut-bomb, so it was good practice.  Unfortunately, the pace languished around 8:20.

I met up with Andy and Tara for the long run.  We took LPT to State Street Farmington, then home on Main.  It was 19 degrees when I left; 2 shirts and a jacket were sufficient, although it took my hands two miles to overcome the numbness.  The miles sure go by quicker when you have some company!  We scared all the ducks overnighting in non-frozen water, and the sunrise was quite pretty.  I feel okay after this run, and very hungry.  The long runs seem to target my hips, upper quads and core  That was my longest run since TOU.  

So next Sat, we are going to do a "little big" workout.  14 miles, with 8 slow, then 2 miles at 6:45ish, 1 mile recovery x2.  It's going to be a lot of fun, so don't forget to sign up early.    

Alien Resurrection; a stinkfest.  My rt knee has been sore in the aftermath of Saturday's long run, like a bruise underneath the cap.  It doesn't hurt to touch or move the cap around, but it stiffens when I sit for a while.  I started running tonight and I could feel the soreness, but it wasn't anything much, so I stuck with the plan.  2 mile warmup, 6 @ 7:30, 1 cooldown.  My knee feels fine now; I iced it for 15 seconds when I went to get something out of the garage.  It's really cold in there.

Legit snow today, very light and powdery.  Since the boys were off school, I left it to them, and went to real work.  I love when that happens.   

I heard a good song today:  Sweet Sour.  "Sour by the minute, but you're sweeter by the hour."  I think the artist is talking about running.  The sour is the lactic acid buildup when you are running hard and fast.  The sweetness is, well, it's an hour+ run with all the endorphins.  Correct me if I'm wrong. 

New shoes!  Kinvaras arrived; not the fancy 3's allie is wear testing, just some outdated 2's.  To celebrate, I repeated the Biggest Loser Progression run.  I commenced at 7 mph and bumped .2 for each commercial break.  By the end I was pretty tired, and skipped one bump during the elimination phase.  (that sounds really gross)  Max speed was 8.6, then cooled down for a couple minutes at 7.  I can't believe how dumb the red team is to send home one of their strongest players.  Don't they want to win any challenges and prizes?  

My knee is sketchy, but it doesn't bother me much.  Just enough to pitch little nagging thoughts in my brain.  

My shoe review is:  they are shoes.  They look cool.  They feel fine.  The left shoe seems to have a bulge on the medial left arch that is absent on the right.  Perhaps my foot is deformed, beyond the Morton's toe, I mean.  One 10 mile run is a pretty good test run with no problems to report. 

Tonight wasn't really my night from a running standpoint.  8 8:30 miles, nice and easy.  Modern Family wasn't that funny, neither was the Napoleon Dynamite cartoon.  On the bright side, I did manage to defeat my 12 year old in a card game.

New shoes.  I really like the mirage, maybe even better than the kinvaras.  My son had a b-ball game.  I wore my tights under my pants, so after they emerged victorious, I ran on home.  It was after 10, so nice, dark and quiet.  I had to make a pit stop at the rec center, however, and cutting across the grass was a dumb idea, since it was like running over a soaked sponge.  I enjoy running in the middle of the street, and I encountered only 10 or so cars.  

A few observations;  bbq beef isn't a great pre-run meal.  Also, after logging many treadmill miles, my stabilizer muscles and kinetic visual awareness are not so great.  I watch tv, and don't pay attention to the belt.  But running over uneven, wet, icy pavement with curb cuts, sidewalks, and slopes is very different, especially in the dark.  

Having largely forsaken my prior habits of outdoor nighttime ramblings, I was reminded of a few pleasures of being outside late at night, including waving at cops and wildlife sightings.   I was startled by 4 deer right by the post office.  I guess they had mail to drop off.     A good run.  No garmin, no iPod.  Just my breathing, slapping and a headwind.

TM, a.m. so I wouldn't be too wiped out for Sat.  SLOW.  My rt knee hurts, but motrin did the trick.  Step back next week might be wise.

Nice run with a large contingent.  The weather was spotty for parts of the run, but we enjoyed nice conditions for 7 miles.  We headed into the wind so we could enjoy tailwind benefits for the faster miles.  I took up a strategic position in the rear, enjoying the drafting.  In reality, I just can't run fast enough to be up front.  

The linkup between LPT and JRP is complete now.  We turned around somewhere on the golf course.  The the first 2 tempo miles were un-flat, the last 2 were mostly flat.  The rain was really coming down, conjuring good memories of  TOU 2011.   Splits for the faster miles were 6:50, 6:42, 6:42 and 6:30.  Afterward, we went to my house for waffles with Jake, Andrea, Tara and Emily.  Everyone else had chores and kids...

Like on day of the running lab, I spent the day sick to my stomach.  I don't think the waffles were poisoned; I'm just not responding well to higher intensity, yet.  Rt knee is bugging, but fine with motrin.  I guess I'm in the groove and popping pills.

As always, it's fun to put faces with names.  The group dynamic was good, and I really got pulled along.  I would be hard pressed to work that hard on my own.  I'm sure I could have hit those splits, but the warmup would have been much more gentle, and the recovery miles much slower.  

I tried out my sick and sore knee.  I've been a little sick several times over the last 3 years, and I've never felt worse for running.  Any thoughts on running while under the weather?  Does it hinder a quick recovery, or merely provide an excuse for skipping a workout?  How much running is too much running when ill?  The irony is the Saturday workout in the rain is likely what pushed me over the edge of wellness...  Catch-22

Illness day from regular work, but I still had to shovel many driveways.  Afterward, the afternoon was so clear and enticing, I put on my shoes and gaiters to see if I could make first tracks on BST.  Mission accomplished.  The views, conditions, and experience were all top-notch.  I'm SOOO glad I went.  However, I underestimated the effort level required to run in the 8-12" of snow.  This run, while worthwhile, completely wiped me out.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Slow treadmill miles.  Consistency narrowly defeated rest/recovery.  By the time I ran 4 miles, I felt pretty good; I could have run 8-10, but figured that would be over the edge.  I got off, ate some cooca puffs and ice cream (separately, but reused the bowl) and went to sleep.  I watched biggest loser.  Horrible.  Too bad they couldn't find some real contestants this year, and that Bob acts like a teeny tiny baby when he loses.  

I got up early to make up for skipping last night (due to East of Eden book club).  10 minute warmup at 7 mph, then 3 min @9, 2 min @7, repeat until 9 miles.  Overall time was 70 minutes.  

Everything felt pretty good.  My 7 year old wakes up super early, so she came down and we watched Les Mis together.  It was a great way to wake up.  18 to go in the morning, so I'm checking out. 

18 miles with Tara, 15 with Andy.  LPT, Main Street, Freedom Hills, including one up-down.  Good run.  These runs feel much easier than they did last year, at least it seems like they do.  I was wiped out for a couple hours afterward, but feel all right now.

After logging 9 weeks in 2 years with mileage over 50, I have 50+ in six of the last eight.  Boston is 11 weeks away, and I still don't have a training plan I am following, other than running 5-6 days a week, and long on the weekend.  I really should rectify this, but I'm enjoying the "disciplined flexibility" of running almost every day, and having freedom to go hard or easy, hill or flat, trails or treadmill.

 My wife says all I do is run.  She's mostly right, and I appreciate her good sportsmanship.

As far as coming up with a plan-- maybe I'll look on runners world.   I would also appreciate any suggestions.

Tempo with "24" tonight.  Slow warmup, 1.5 miles, then did 6:30 pace for 4.5 miles, cooldown for 2 miles.  I felt fine, like I could continue for a while.  At the same time, I was glad when the episode ended and I could slow down.  I'll add some time, and work up to 7-8 miles at that faster than marathon pace.

My credit card has airfare charges on it...11 weeks from now, I'll be crashed/trashed in a hotel room in Auburn, MA.

I got a late start, and finished just before midnight.  Biggest Loser progression run without much progress.  I started at 7 mph and finished at 8 mph, 75 minutes.  This season is horrible.  I may have to find something else to watch.  They keep voting off the positive people,  and keep all the trash around.  Going way back, I think this group is even worse than the Heba, Ed and Vicky season.  It would be nice to see a double or triple elimination next week.